Viktor Hovland showed some encouraging signs on day one at Bay Hill and, following winners at 3/1 and 5/1, Ben Coley is keen to side with him today.
Golf betting tips: Arnold Palmer round two
2pts Bhatia and Hovland to win their two-balls at 7/2 (General)
Conditions were extremely demanding on day one of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, particularly for those out early. That was unfortunate for us, with three out of four outright picks among the morning wave, though the truth is one was exceptional, and the two who weren't had their putters to blame.
Later on, Shane Lowry ed Keegan Bradley in a share of second so we're in a nice enough position, though the big three in the betting all began ominously well and so did leader Wyndham Clark, who was runner-up here a year ago.
Lowry spent the early part of the week testing as many as 15 drivers so his progress may depend on whether he found the right one, while both he and Bradley need to back up solid putting displays. If they can, either one of these proven major champions could certainly take down Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Ludvig Aberg, with the former probably just about the man to beat.
We landed a nice 3/1 double and 5/1 treble from the two-balls and today's recommendation is to side with two players who were beaten in the first round.
First is VIKTOR HOVLAND, who showed some hugely encouraging signs with his long-game but, from the very first hole, was hindered by some outrageously bad putting.
It's cruelly ironic that he'd said earlier in the week that his focus had been on his short-game, with the long-game feeling better now he's back with an old coach, and I'd be very hopeful he can at least figure the putter out in an event which has been kind to him in the past.
Hovland was almost five strokes better than Hideki Matsuyama in strokes-gained ball-striking, but Matsuyama was almost eight strokes better with his short-game, both figures which are quite hard to wrap your head around.
I'd expect both gaps to narrow but if Hovland continues to hit it anywhere close to the levels shown on Thursday, he'll make odds of around 6/4 appear generous.
My second selection is AKSHAY BHATIA, for whom it was a baptism of fire in those conditions.
The left-hander struggled badly off the tee and was four shots inferior to Matthieu Pavon when all's said and done, but Pavon has been very much up and down since a coaching change late last year.
At Pebble Beach he started well then shot 73-78 during the middle rounds, he followed two 68s with rounds of 72 and 73 in Phoenix, and after going 79-69 to begin the Genesis Invitational, he went 75-68 over the weekend.
Last week it was 66-64 then 71-75 and while we clearly might be a day early in opposing him following a decent effort in difficult conditions, he's probably one from whom we should expect one or two big scores over the final 54 holes.
Bhatia was a fair bit shorter for round one and with plenty of randomness brought into the equation by the weather, he's a strong fancy to reverse the form in expectation that he drives the ball a heck of a lot better.
Posted at 1135 GMT on 07/03/25
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